Hali-WHAT?
The one that didn't get away
By Donna Koleszar
People love to come to Powell River to go fishing. Carol and Mel Modien are no exception. They travelled in their motor home from Dawson Creek to visit Carol's brother Jim Castle who lives in Powell River. Carol wanted to catch a salmon. "I have never caught a salmon," she explained. So Jim took his sister and her husband out in his 17-foot boat to land a little dinner.
July 13th was a beautiful day—they wanted to get a little sun and relaxation. What they got was a little more than they bargained for, even by Powell River standards. The Modiens travelled from the harbour to the east side of Harwood Island. Carol likes to troll but she really wanted to catch a salmon so Jim put a silver zinger on her rod at the end of 25 pound test line. "Just jig this off the bottom while I get the down riggers hooked up," he told his sister. Carol reluctantly started to jig her zinger off the bottom of about 125 feet of water as Jim got the riggers ready so they could troll.
On the first jig, Carol felt something very heavy. She laughed, "I think I've got a whale," she said. The boys grinned at her, "Yeah, you've probably hooked a rock cod, haul it in and let's have a look." The rod started to bend right back to the handle and Carol struggled to hold it between her knees. She started to reel in the line but after about five minutes her arms were so tired she could not continue. Chuckling at his wife's inadequacy, Mel took over.
Well.... This was something he had not bargained for. There was a dead weight at the bottom of this rod and Mel also struggled to keep the rod upright. Had Carol hooked onto something on bottom? Maybe a big lingcod?
The fascinating thing about fishing is you never really know what you have because you cannot see it. Mel continued to haul in the line, one wind at a time. The thing took a dive; he resisted, keeping it all together. He could not wind the line in very fast, but he was steady... for about half an hour. That's when they began to see something just under the surface of the water. "Get the net," yelled Mel. Jim replied, "I think you have a halibut."
GREAT BIG FISH: At 80 pounds, this is the biggest halibut
Jim Coulton of Marine Traders has seen come into the
Powell River harbour. It was caught by Mel and Carole Modien
of Dawson Creek on July 13 off the Harwood Sandbanks.
They managed to get the mighty fish into the net, but could not lift it into the boat. Of course the fish was flopping around like a wild bronco and they were fearful of losing him. Finally, both Mel and Jim managed to haul it over the side and into the boat. That fish was flapping and thrashing about until Jim grabbed a club and knock him out properly.
The two men were finally able to still the big fish, but they had another problem: where could they keep him? Too big for the fish tub, and they couldn't just leave him in the sun. Then came an idea. They removed the engine cover and flipped him into the bilge so they could continue the fishing trip for a couple more hours.
When they all got back to harbour they took their catch to Marine Traders for a weigh-in. It took three men to lift the fish up for that to happen. A whopping 80 pounds of halibut!!! Still, Carol humbly explained that she would still like to catch a salmon.
You go girl!
